Lisa Cholodenko chats her cast

The Kids Are All Right writer-director Lisa Cholodenko has scored an unlikely feat. Cholodenko's The Kids Are All Right starring Julianne Moore, Annette Bening, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutchinson, arrived on movie screens in the crowded summer movie season and to the delight of audiences everywhere, The Kids Are All Right has emerged as the season’s best film.

Lisa Cholodenko made her directorial debut with High Art, a strong and intricate film, but it was actually her second film, Laurel Canyon that firmly planted Lisa Cholodenko on the film map.

The Kids Are All Right captures family life in the 21st century as few films have during this decade. Julianne Moore and Annette Bening are two moms bringing up teenage children. As Mia Wasikowska's character, Joni, is readying to head off to college, her younger brother (Josh Hutchinson) enlists her help in finding their biological father. That quest sends the entire clan into a whirlwind that for audiences not only proves that in 2010 The Kids Are All Right, but so are their parents.

Joni Mitchell and her music are of high influence to Lisa Cholodenko. Just look at Laurel Canyon (seriously a don't-miss), and there's a scene in The Kids Are All Right that packs part of its dramatic punch because of the singing of Joni Mitchell.